I AM 7: the Automation for Gianluigi Viscardi

On the issue 7 of I AM, Gianluigi Viscardi, Cosberg CEO, explains his vision on Automation, an intelligent ally destined to extend human possibilities.

The term automation historically implies replicating physical human operations. Today, cognitive ones have also been added, thanks to Digitization and Artificial Intelligence.

A combination that changes the way we live, relate, and work. For example, the media select content that we like. Expert systems diagnose diseases and ensure remote surgeries. Exoskeletons and Avatars will make our lives easier. In industry, the wrench is giving way to software that govern increasingly autonomous plants, which self-configure, detect faults and produce predictions. Underlying this “revolution” are some common factors: elimination of physical exertion, remote control and command, connection between people and machines, and processing of data and knowledge for targeted, real-time actions.

A broad theme. One that compels reflections, seeing the glass half full. Automation is frightening because of its complexity and possible increase in unemployment and social inequality. It will actually prove to be more accessible – not least because of the reduction in related costs – and more understandable than we think: isn’t it true that today we use cell phones without consulting the instruction booklet and regardless of our social class, education and age? What’s more, it would help us free up the most precious part of our lives: time, to be devoted in this way to our passions or to innovate.

It may sound like a paradox, but intelligent automation is not destined to confine humans to a marginal role, as is widely believed: on the contrary, it will reinforce their centrality, enhancing their unreplicable innate capacities for flexibility and creativity.